Samsung, the world's largest computer chip maker, said
Monday it has developed a new 256MB solid-state drive which is expected to replace hard disk drives in laptop computers.

Samsung said its 256GB solid state drive (SSD)
for data storage is 2.4 times faster than traditional
hard drives. The company plans to begin production of
SSDs this year.

The new SSD "represents a bold step in the shift to
notebooks with significantly improved performance and
larger storage capacities," the company said in a
statement.

Samsung described the new SSD, 2.5 inches long and 9.5
millimeters thick, as the world's smallest of its kind.
It can read up to 200 megabytes of data per second and
write at a sequential write speed of 160MBps. For comparison, WD?s 300 GB Velociraptor 3.5" hard drive, which is considered the fastest traditional hard drive on the market today, achieves data read and write rates of just over 100 MB/s.

The multi-level cell (MLC)-based solid state drive (SSD)
uses a SATA II interface. It boasts reliability equal to
that of SLC SSDs, with a mean time between failures
(MTBF) of one million hours, while costing considerably
less. Power consumption is also very low at 0.9W in
active mode. In addition, the drive offers a data
encryption process that prevents data stored on the SSD
from being accessed in an unauthorized manner, even
after the SSD is removed from the PC.

It said, citing market research agency iSuppli, that 35
percent of notebook computers would use the SSD by 2012. Samsung has not provided pricing details. Currently available 256GB 2.5" SSDs cost more than $6,500, while WD?s Velociraptor hard drive sells for $300.

In related news, Samsung also said it developed a radio
frequency chip, dubbed the "Mobile TV System-on-Chip"
that single-handedly supports mobile television
frequency standards in multiple regions, including South
Korea, Japan, France and Germany.

The chip is even capable of relaying seamless mobile
broadcasting in bullet trains travelling at 280
kilometers per hour, the company said, with production
scheduled to begin in the third quarter.